Cartoons

A while back, when Larry was given the job of Downing Street mouser-in-chief, I found myself drawing a cartoon series for a Sunday newspaper. Described as the political mewsings of Larry it allowed me to imagine a cat’s eye view of the goings on behind the country’s most famous front door. I realised I was following in a noble tradition of cat cartoonists, for cats have been a favourite subject for some 150 years. The great Punch cartoonist Sir John Tenniel created the definite Cheshire Cat for Alice in Wonderland – the cat that slowly vanished leaving only its grin behind. His life overlapped with the most celebrated cat cartoonist of all Louis Wain who made a living drawing cats with extraordinarily large eyes and very human characteristics. I remember my grandmother had a cat called aft...